I think they’ll start to embrace sub-tier services like Spotify Connect to democratise the platform as much as possible. There won’t be as much integration as the full fat services and it will break the old sacred cow of wanting maximum API access, but it will increase user choice and if they want to drive additional subs on to the platform that’s a good way to do it.
Integration of the Roon mobile app into the Samsung Smartthings app. Some Samsung TVs can also run this app so there would be a double benefit in bringing Roon control into the Smartthings ecosystem. Harman family amps could also be integrated for source selection/on/off etc.
I’m curious about the level autonomy that the Roon team will be able to maintain. I think that acquiring Roon makes a lot of sense after their own failed attempts with Heos and Denon Home. They’re hasn’t been a high enough adoption rate for their own product lines, and they probably knew that Sonos was going to march and eat their lunch. Maintaining cross-brand compatibility gives them a competitive edge by increasing their installed user base, which will likely foster further adoption. I still can’t help but wonder what overarching corporate direction might come in and compromise the platform. Don’t get me wrong, I think that this new alignment brings with it a wealth of opportunity and benefits, but that’s only if it’s properly navigated and the business politics don’t get in the way.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall in some of these rooms.
I’m not one that yearns for Spotify integration, but I’m old and I know that’s one thing that keeps my kids from adopting this platform. We have Tidal and an always-on dedicated core that runs perfectly well, but they continue to choose to spend their own money for access to Spotify Premium over Roon or Roon ARC. My opinions aside, that’s definitely a barrier to overcome.
I think that the Roon and Roon ARC clients need to evolve into a single platform, but that’s just my opinion. Roon ARC for Android Auto leaves a lot to be desired for me that I think would be better addressed if didn’t seem like it was on its own distant development branch.
It needs to be lightweight, immediately responsive, and intuitive to gain better adoption. I frequently hear my kids praise Spotify for its understanding of their musical tastes and suggestions during listening sessions. That seems obvious, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to provide such a personal relationship with every consumer. Connection is stimulation and so on…
Ramble, ramble, ramble… I’m excited for what will come.
Agreed, Smartthings is far from perfect but you can now get Samsung fridge/freezers with massive Family Hub displays on the front. Perfect for controlling Roon in the kitchen…
Family Hub™ easily integrates with not only other Samsung smart appliances but also comes with Alexa built-in allowing you to easily control your smart home by voice command. Family Hub™ has several features built-in to plan and order your food, keep your family organized, entertain, and control your smart home.
Well, I really hope Roon/Harman put all these plans on hold till 2024.
The nicest gift Roon could bring us for Christmas is a new build with ZERO new functionalities, but 80+% of the bugs introduced with the latest version, solved.
Two way Roon - Tidal editing of Playlists (clear #1 for me)
Some way of keeping iOS session “alive” and/or lock screen widget for Pause and Volume
If you’re on an Artist, you hit View All albums, KEEP the year and stars (not sure why they disappear!!)
More interesting design and/or tweaking of Display View (on big TV for me)
Sleep Timer and Alarm Clock Done
Convert Playlist entries from Tidal songs to Qobuz songs (and keeping play counts would be nice) (this keeps me from converting to Qobuz)
Identification of tracks now Unavailable in your streaming service (Tidal)
Roon Radio based on the full contents of an existing playlist
Secret panel to tweak Roon Radio! (every app needs a secret panel)
Recommendations driven by Roon user aggregate statistics, more direct song-to-song recommendation navigation (not just Related Artists). Could be at bottom of a Playlist recommending additional songs (which is what Spotify does)
Roon user submitted reviews – i learn the most from others here
have forum links of songs and albums open in Roon and locate song in your library or in your configured streaming service.
Allow Roon playlist sharing via forum links (potentially expose some of the forum within Roon to facilitate this)
Better use and exposure of our activity data in Roon — popular songs, popular artists, etc. across the year or by time of day. A music data explorer.
Natively implement a more rigorous genre/mood categorization scheme
Personal Roon Radio “stations” that have their own associated likes and influencers (aka Pandora), so I might have Late Night Jazz Roon Radio, or Workout in the Morning Roon Radio
Support for Mixcloud (possible), 8tracks (possible), Soundcloud (not possible), and Spotify (not possible)
AppleTV app for Now Playing
Sync Roon Catalogs across another Core (i.e. laptop for travel) without Restore process (via DropBox)
There are probably tens of current threads where people are reporting this after the last update, but it doesn’t seem to be tied to the platform used by server or remotes because it’s apparently happening on all of them and plenty other people with the same platforms are not experiencing this. At least I can’t see any pattern. Might be related to networks or certain library properties. I hope Roon figures it out soon
The most obvious thing coming from this acquisition is that Roon Remote on Android will (needs to) be brought at least at the same functionality as Roon Remote on IOS.